Andhra Pradesh Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy on Wednesday said that the Union government is in favour of establishing a petro-chemical corridor in the state. He said that the corridor will be set up at a cost of Rs 25,000 crore. The minister presented a project report on the petrochemical complex to the Union government. "Met Dharmendra Pradhan and proposed a revival plan for the PCPIR project in AP. This plan will pave the way for all round industrial development coupled with employment in the region. Also, speedy implementation of the VCIC corridor by our government to give fillip to investments," Goutham Reddy said.
On completing the project, the state government believes that as many as 50 lakh jobs can be created, including investments flowing into the petro-chemical field in the coming two to three years. The minister said up to Rs 30,000 crore of investment can be expected in the east coast corridor. Including the participation of allied industries and the plans of the state and Union governments getting executed as decided, the minister said that up to Rs 2 lakh crore investments are expected.
The Industries Minister is also anticipating investments in the ethanol sector, considering the Union government raising ethanol blending in petrol to 20% from 10% recently. He said the Union government gave the green signal for a Rs 1,000 cr green field refinery to produce ethanol from molasses arriving from sugar factories. Likewise, the state and central officials will prepare a plan for the viability gap funding. AP Chief Secretary and Industries Secretary will prepare the plan of action and the project work will start after receiving the Union government's assent.
Following his meeting with the minister, Pradhan said, "Delightful meeting Goutham Reddy. We had detailed discussions on strengthening oil, gas and petrochemical infrastructure in the state to give a boost to employment and economic growth."